MLA Style

What is the MLA style

MLA style is a set of guidelines for scientific communication established by the Modern Language Association . The guidelines vary from describing the role of ethics in publishing to offering basic guidance on writing an article, and citing sources. All guidelines appear in the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook.

Who should use MLA

Students, teachers, researchers and professionals in the fields of arts and humanities, especially in writing on language and literature should use the MLA style guidelines that appear in the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook.

Why use MLA

Uniform style helps you identify easily key points and findings in a paper. It also assists you in presenting in an organized way the information you want to convey to your audience. Finally, it allows you to codify with accuracy and respect the elements required in order to give credit to those who inspired your work.

How MLA works

You need to keep in mind that MLA style follows the author - page system to describe the sources cited in a paper. This means that the author and the page on which the information appears, are always provided in the citations.

MLA handbook & other resources

MLA Handbook 8th edition by The Modern Language Association of AmericaThe Modern Language Association, the authority on research and writing, takes a fresh look at documenting sources in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. Works are published today in a dizzying range of formats. A book, for example, may be read in print, online, or as an e-book--or perhaps listened to in an audio version. On the Web, modes of publication are regularly invented, combined, and modified. Previous editions of the MLA Handbook provided separate instructions for each format, and additional instructions were required for new formats. In this groundbreaking new edition of its best-selling handbook, the MLA recommends instead one universal set of guidelines, which writers can apply to any type of source. Shorter and redesigned for easy use, the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook guides writers through the principles behind evaluating sources for their research. It then shows them how to cite sources in their writing and create useful entries for the works-cited list. More than just a new edition, this is a new MLA style.